Undocumented Females Report Being Raped by Smugglers

By mnino

Created 01/18/2013 - 10:25am

Friday, January 18, 2013 - 10:25am

KINGSVILLE, TEXAS (NEWS CENTER 23) — U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Rio Grande Valley Sector apprehended a woman from Honduras on Tuesday, who says she was raped by three human smugglers at a stash house.

The woman was apprehended in the brush by agents assigned to the Kingsville Station. During a medical clearance, the woman said she had been raped Jan. 6 by three male smugglers at a stash house near Hidalgo. Agents took the woman to the Christus Spohn Hospital Kleberg in Kingsville for evaluation.

Another woman, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, says two human smugglers she had employed to lead her through the brush around the Falfurrias Checkpoint separated her from a group of about 20 other immigrants and raped her at gunpoint. The smugglers then left her behind when she became faint and could not keep up with the rest of the group. A man from the group, who is also an illegal immigrant, stayed behind to take care of her.

Responding to a call from a concerned citizen, Border Patrol agents found the pair on Jan. 6 and rendered medical assistance. The woman was interviewed by the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office and filed a report concerning the allegations of rape.

Unscrupulous human smugglers continue to prey on illegal immigrants and exploit them for profit. Human smugglers are ruthless criminals who view the immigrant not as a human being, but as cargo. Immigrants are urged not to put their safety at risk by illegally entering the United States, circumventing a checkpoint, or entrusting their safety to these criminals.

So far for fiscal year 2013, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley have rescued nearly 190 illegal immigrants whose lives were at risk due to a variety of circumstances. That number represents a 210 percent increase in rescues compared to the same time period for fiscal year 2012. Additionally, agents have found the remains of nearly 50 illegal immigrants, an increase more than 130 percent.